Analyst: Auto Market 'Up for Grabs'
New York - Toyota Motor Corp. has touched off a new "incentive war," according to IHS Global Insight analyst George Magliano, who said market share is now "up for grabs" in the United States, The Detroit News reported. "There's going to be a lot of jockeying going on," he told industry leaders at the NADA/IHS Global Insight Automotive Forum, a lead in to the New York International Auto Show. "This is a really fluid market." Zero-percent financing is "back in vogue," Magliano said, though many consumers are still too worried about their jobs to buy a new car or truck. "We need jobs," he said. "We've got a lot of pent-up demand out there." U.S. light vehicle sales fell to just 10 million units last year from a high north of 16 million, but Magliano expects sales to rebound to 11.8 million units in 2010, thanks largely to the generous incentives automakers are now offering in the wake of Toyota's sweeping recalls. "The bottom line is, we've turned the corner," he said. Toyota and Ford Motor Co. are now in a battle for second place in the U.S., Magliano said, predicting both companies will end up with about 16 percent of the market. Magliano expects General Motors Co.'s share to fall to about 17 percent.
More Industry

Pennsylvania Dealership Under New Retailers
The sale of the Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram store puts a family auto group on a leaner path as first-time dealers take the helm.
Read More →
Battery Storage Takes Priority Over EVs
U.S. automakers are prioritizing battery energy stationary storage over electric-vehicle production as the consumer demand for EVs lags the rest of the world.
Read More →
Auto Dealers Feel Better But Not Great
A second-quarter Cox Automotive poll of franchised retailers and independents found better views of the current market after a good spring but anticipation of third-quarter storminess.
Read More →
New-Vehicle Sales Picture Relative
A May forecast is complicated by last spring’s trade tariff effects on auto retail. Despite continued hard realities, many consumers took advantage of ways to bite the bullet.
Read More →
Auto Group Acquires Third Nissan Rooftop
Iowa-based Coleman Automotive Group recently acquired its seventh dealership, McGrath Nissan, which it renamed Nissan of Elgin.
Read More →
April Less Affordable
Based on prices, reduced incentives and slower household income growth, consumers found it more challenging to buy new last month, Cox Automotive reported.
Read More →
Building an Extraordinary F&I Agency
Work to determine your specialized talent, because that fact will determine everything about your agency’s future.
Read More →
Recipe for Compliance
The secret to both amazing barbecue and compliance is the same: understanding the basics and committing to a process.
Read More →
EVs Getting More Attractive
A growing percentage of U.S. consumers are open to switching and fewer are adverse to the idea, according to a recently completed survey. That’s despite the end of a tax break.
Read More →
EV Sales Drop in April Following Surge
North American electric-vehicle sales were down 28% year-over-year, a sharp contrast from global EV sales growth of 6%.
Read More →